The icon takes the form of a stylized "S" folded like a ribbon, which gives Samsung an powerful and recognizable symbol for the back of its devices.

It also does double-duty as a home button design for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile products.

Firat's concept isn't entirely without fault. He says the icon is meant to represent simplicity, quality, and unity, which sounds wonderful, but he's really branding a bizarro world version of Samsung.

Still, the icon does offer consistency to the branding itself.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that a company is ready to take such concepts seriously.

Designer Rebrands Samsung's Logo To Make It As Iconic As Apple's

A Dutch designer imagines a better way to brand the Korean giant.

For 21 years, the Samsung name as served as the company logo, occasionally superimposed over a wobbly blue oval. It's the kind of logo that's fine on washing machines and televisions, but incredibly boring on something personal, like a smartphone. Never is this more apparent than when compared to the branding of Samsung's arch-enemy in Cupertino, which is simply the silhouette of an apple.

The icon takes the form of a stylized "S" folded like a ribbon, which not only gives Samsung a powerful and recognizable symbol for the back of its devices, but does double-duty as a home button design for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile products.

Firat's concept isn't entirely without fault. He says the icon is meant to represent simplicity, quality, and unity—which sounds wonderful—but he's really branding a bizarro world version of Samsung. There's currently nothing about Samsung products that represent the combination of simplicity, quality, and unity.

It's about time Samsung focuses on how it presents itself outside of those ridiculous, self-parodying mission statements.

Still, the icon does offer consistency to the branding itself. Samsung uses different logos in different typefaces almost willy-nilly across their product line: The marketing materials for Samsung's flagship phone, the Galaxy S5, use two different "Samsung" logos and three different fonts in just the product splash shot alone. This not only makes a Samsung product less instantly recognizable, it makes Samsung look like it doesn't care about detail.

And while rebranding alone can't make Samsung's actual products embody the simplicity, quality, and unity that Firat's new icon would have them aspire to, a revamped visual identity can signal to the world that the company is ready to take such concepts seriously—which might be why the company is restructuring its design team. It's about time Samsung focuses on how it presents itself outside of those ridiculous, self-parodying mission statements.

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The original logo is so much more iconic than this generic over simplified new version. It's like social media, you don't create something and call it viral. It defines by the general public and its reaction. The new logo won't be iconic until the public remembers and identifies as iconic.

Interesting article, and a cool design for Samsung. But just as a side note, the Samsung design reminds me more of the fascinating and ever-morphing logo that Moving Brands imagined for Wikipedia than of the Microsoft logo. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ONiHI1YO5c)

Samsung's business model is to steal a patent, sell the product for less than the original manufacturer, and when they get sued for patent infringement, dig in their heels and countersue big time. So, maybe the reason they are restructuring their design team is so they can steal this designer's new brand look and implement it without paying the fees. For me, there is something more important than Samsung's lower prices. This business model stinks.

I'm a proud user of windows phone but this gave me the chills! Just thinking I don't have to see that boring brand all around me is great.
It's an interesting idea, but at least a new looking Samsung brand should not look so much like the one from Microsoft's multimedia sync/play software for WP! (Zune software)
But still not seeing that terrible brand everywhere would be nice!

Even if this was not a cheap rip off; resulting from too many hours at an Amsterdam "cafe", it is nowhere as iconic as Apple's.

To take a word that is instilled in most our brains as probably the first word we were taught...."A is for Apple", and to reposition it in our minds to mean something totally different - but then again, perhaps that's is secret!

Today, "A" is still for "Apple"....but the fruit may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Apple" !

We've created over hundred brand identities for IT companies. The first question is always, what are the brand attributes the logo should stand for. Here I see knock-off, uninspiring, bland... if those are the values the designer had in mind for the Samsung logo, then he delivered a cynical show. Is this supposed to be funny? Couldn't you find other design stories that are actually relevant? Call me next time before running out of ideas.

FastCo - did no one even try to vet this, to google image search it, a cursory “S Logo” brought it up for crying out loud. It’s a wonderful bit of photoshop execution. and a large helping of plagiarism. Intentional or unintentional, Professional design gets you research, knowledge, and collaborative work for a client. Spec-work gets you in legal hot water: it shouldn’t be featured.
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